Means for preventing leakage past the pistons of internal-combustion engines



June 16, 1925.

1,542,423 G. A. TAYLOR MEANS FOR PREVENTING LEAKAGE PAST THE PISTONS OFINTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Feb. 10, 1921 17 iIE-B- f4 Fig-4- H A;Q -54 Tl if 6 ,f 5

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UNITEDISTATES 1,5 PATENT OFFICE.

GMEGE A. TAYLOR, OF BOSTON, IASSAGHUSE'ITS.

ms i on rimvmme LEAKAGE rss'r 'rnn r s'ron's or INTERNAL-COMBUSTION AENGINES.

Application filed February 10, 1921. Serial No. 444,055.

To all whom it may concern: or

Be it known thatI, GEORGE A.TAYLOR, acitizen of the United States,residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have,invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for PreventingLeakage Past the Pistons of Internal- Combus'tion Engines, of -which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein t theaccompanying drawings.

My present invention relates to an improvement in means for preventingleakage past the piston from the combustion chamber to the crank case ofan internal combustion engine, this means being. preferably embodied ina pistonring. The particular object of the present invention is toprovide in combination with a piston a piston ring which will remaintight under all condi-' tions of use for a longer time than piston ringsnow in use, and which will not break when in use and damage the walls ofthe cylinder. My invention in its broadest aspects comprises thecombination of piston and piston ri one or the other of these partshavin t e culiar construction described herem. ile thecombination willordinarily-include a piston of ordinary coniston ring of the novelconstruction and struction described herein, the invention may alsobepracticed by employing a piston ring of ordinary construction incombination with a'novel piston as will be ex-. plained. e

The piston rin embodying my invention in its preferred orm presents tothe cylinder wall a surface substantially like that of the ordinaryone-piece iston ring and, therefore, has all the a vantages of this tye. In addition thereto means are provided by which the ring is heldstrongly with its up r edge in contact with the top surface of t egroove in the piston. This is a very important feature, as I have foundby actual practice that if the piston ring is held strongl against theto surface of the groove no ifiicult from eakage will be rienced. Furtermore, the pressure exerted b the ring on the top and bottom walls 0the groove prevents t e piston ring from turning on the piston. This isimportant because if the piston rin turns after having been once run in,it wi not fit tight in the new position.

My improved piston ring has the great advantage that it comprises asingle member instead of two or t nee members. Furthermore, it doesnotinclude any se arate spring or tempered members which in the past.have been one of the chief objections to. .sorcalled pressure or.leak-proof piston rings,because these slender tempered members havefrequently broken into small friction between the contacting surfaces'ofthe piston ring and piston groove and therefore the ring exerts lessradial pressure on the walls of the cylinder, thereby reducing thetendenc of the ring to wear the cylin.

der wall w 'ch is .a chief cause of pistons becoming loose.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionwhen taken n-connection with the accomnanving drawin and the novelfeatures thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claimsat the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a View of a piston and piston rings embodyingmy invention in its preferred form.

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of a piston ring shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective showing a piston ring before the slotsare out.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the ring I after the slots are cut.

Fig. 5 is an edge view or side elevation of the ring shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the completed ring, as shown in Figure 2.

Fig. 7 is a. section of a portion of the cylinder wall, piston and apiston ring embodying in invention.

Fig. .8 i ustrates a modified form of my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, at A is shown'a piston suitable forusewith with the piston ring shown in'Figures 2 and 6. This piston hasthe ordinary grooves 11, 12 and 13 in each of which is placed one of thepiston rings shown in Figures 2 and 6. The top surface-of the groove isdesignated a, the bottom surface I) and the cylinder wall itself. isdesignated B.

The piston ring embodying my invention in its preferred form will bebest understood by describing the manner in which it than the other.

the expense for regrinding .the expense of disassembling and reassemismade. 'In' making my improved piston ring, I take-a plain one-piecepiston ring 3 of ordinary construction, such .as is shown in Figure 3,and which preferably has a step-cut joint, as shown at 14. I then cut aseries of slots 15 parallel with the top and bottom faces and preferablynearer one face In ractice, I make the slots nearer the lower ace. Ifind that four slots each of about 80 in length produce a versatisfactory ring. These slots are prefera ly arran ed symmetrically sothat in the completed ring an even distribution of pressure will result.After the slots are cut, the portions 0 below the'slot are deformed orbent downward, as shown in Figure 6, and'this portion of the ring isheated to a temperature sufficient to set the metal, so that it willretain the deformation. This treatment converts the member 0 into foursprings integral with the remainder of the ring, but does not distortthe remainder of the ring in any way. Since the ends of the springmembers 0 are integral with the body of the ring, and since the springmembers have been permanently lengthened by the treatment described, avery strong spring action results so that when the ring is placed in agroove of a. width substantially equal to the original thickness of thering, the ring will be very strongly seated against the top surface a ofthe groove in the piston. This construction also ractically eliminatesthe possibility of brea age and conseq scoring of the cylinder walls bybroken parts. This is a very great advantage as cylinders when bling theengine is included, is very heavy and indeed almost prohibitive.

At 6 is shown one of several oil holes leading from the bottom ofthe-lower groove of the piston so that oil scraped from the wall of thecylinder by the piston ring will drain to the interior of the piston andso back into the crankcase. When the ring is to be used as a scraperring in this way, it is down to a slightly smaller diameter at thebottom, as shown. at p in Figure 1. This construction prevents anyexcess of oil reaching the top of the cylinder.

In Figure 8, I have shown my invention in a modified form. In thisfigure, the

firmly in place b the spring members. 1

Under certain con itions of use, this construction may prove better thanthe firstmentioned construction, but under ordinary conditions I preferthe first.

..fore intend to claim my invention in the broadest manner permitted bylaw.

What I claim is 1. An improved piston ring which ineludesv a series ofspring members located at an end face of the rin and having their endsintegral with the bo y of the ring, said members havin portionsintermediate their ends which pro ect beyond the remainder of the faceof the ring and are adapted to engage one wall of the piston ring grooveand hold said ring against movement in :an axial direction.

2. The improved piston ring'having a slot cut adjacent one surface ofsaid ring and the material between the slot and said surface beingpermanently deformed to form a sprin member by which said ring will beheld firmly against the walls of the groove of the piston with which itis to be used.

3. The combination with the body member of a piston formed with acircumferential groove; of a piston ring member within said groove andslit at intervals in the zone of the ring member to 'form' two pistonrings connected in one integral structure one of said rings being memberbeing thinner than the width of the groove where the ring member isunslit and wider where slit before insertion within the groove torequire compression to be received within the groove.

4. A-piston ring'structure comprising a thick piston ring and a thinspring piston ring spaced apart from the thick ring and united therewithat intervals, the ring structure being reduced in thickness at theplaces where the'two rings are connected and at the ends of the arcuateport-ions of the thin ring that are between these places of connectionbetween the rings.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

' .GEORGE A. TAYLOR.

also a spring, the ring

